A cold wind blows from the North.

[Lord Vaylen Stormbringer]

~~So it was with a sigh of relief that the haggard old Elf crested the hill top and looked down upon the lands of Goldenmyst. It had been many years since his last sojourn here. He looked tired...old. He bunched his heavy black cloak about him and strode forth down the path, the few Knights who passed him with the crest of Gold Horn on some, Goldenmyst on the others payed him little to no notice. That made him chuckle somewhat. He carried with him only a old, frayed tome which hung at his side by a rather sinister looking chain...but just fanciful decorations for an old traveler. A figure stalked and mimicked his progress in the woods near him...but he payed it no mind. Nor did he pay much mind to the rains...most could tell by his gracious, if not halted movement, that he was an elf, and passed it off as simply as his love for nature. He continued along his journey, each step bringing back a flash of memory from a different time, a different place. The quiet drizzle on his face replaced by the torrential showers of blood...the peaceful pattering of the water on the leaves replaced by the sounds of sizzling flesh. But that was a long time ago....or so it seemed. Had it been so long ago? So much had changed since then. He remembered the old wars...the old names....He saw them as faces in battle, lovers in bed, adroit enemies in the courts of kingdoms. Flaxen...Mephisto...Gavin..Janus.....Elven Omni....Valinor...Azrael. All dead and gone for the most part. Sometimes immortality was more of a burden than a gift, especially his particular brand of it. He looked over to the North and saw in the cold Grey mountains a black and twisted shape rising between the peaks and shuddered with more memories. A name came unbidden into his mind as he clutched the small violet crystal about his neck....Nemesis Darkstar. He paused at that thought....studying it, reflecting, then moving on. Ah, almost there. He was in town now...most not paying him any mind, an old elven beggar in overlarge tattered robes with a book and a mithril chain. The gleam of true silver, however, often draws the attention of those with less than altruistic intentions. As he passed by a local tavern, a few drunkard off duty militiamen approached him. A sigh, a shake of his head...would the second-borne never learn? He walked on, keeping a weary eye on the approaching men....one of them made the mistake of grabbing his arm. "Halt! Beggars are required to pay a tax here....". Slurred speech, wavering movement...just move on. "You are impeding me." A laugh, a shove, they had surrounded him, another shove....then one grabbed at his hood and pulled it back. He stood erect then, his patience never was very good. Even after all these years. He came to his full height...taller than most elves by a good 3 hands. His silver hair spilled down his shoulders as he turned a piercing purple gaze to the leader of the men. He saw...all to late of course...a flash of lightning in the elf's eyes. No one really saw what happened after that it seemed. The old elf replaced his hood and continued on...behind him lay the smoking and badly bruised bodies of 4 men. He had left them alive of course, and hopefully taught them a lesson. As he turned to walk away, one of the men caught a glimpse under his robe of the point of a black blade with strange runes etched in it. A whisper came unbidden from his lips that quickly spread like wildfire throughout the small neighborhood. A tale from their childhood he had said, be it fact or fiction, the King must be notified. It had appeared, for all who believed the tale, that the Stormlord of Darkwind, the Necromancer of Stormwind Spire had returned to the lands of Goldenmyst.~~~

[Gelina Grey]

After so much happening to her as of late, she had found that quiet place in the library by the hearth where she loved to hide out, calm her mind, ease her tension and have a good strong drink. Whiskey in one hand, a book in her lap, she flips the page. She wasn't really reading it in depth, skimming it really, lifting the glass to her lips every now and then to sip the Irish Whiskey slowly, enjoying it to the fullest.

The peace and quiet with no tension, no drama, and no stressing over paperwork this night was more than she could ask for. But it would seem that she thought it too soon. Suddenly feeling a burst of energy within the realm of the kingdom, those gleaming emerald eyes look up from the yellowed pages of the book to stare into the fireplace, the flames flaring up higher.

Using the flames like a crystal ball, she manipulates them to show her where the energy came from. Narrowing her eyes, she focuses. Within the flames she sees a cloaked figure walking through Mysthaven, then she sees the figure being surrounded by some of the local men. As the event unfolds in the flames, there is a bright flash of light, then all she sees is the figure walking away from the town. She frowns seeing the men lying on the ground. The fingers wrapped around the glass filled with whiskey tighten. Whoever this was had hurt some of her people.

She growls and the glass in her hand shatters from her tightening grip. With a startled yelp, she jumps up from the chair, the book hitting the floor with shards of glass, whiskey all over her breeches and tunic, blood dripping from her hand.

"Son of a bitch!" Now she was really pissed. Leaving the shattered glass and tumbled book behind, she runs out of the library, down the long hall, through the foyer, bursting out the front doors. Before she even gets to the gates she's shifts into dragon form and takes off, just missing the pikes of the gates as she soars along the road that leads to Mysthaven.

It wasn't long before she found the cloaked figure walking the road in the direction of the castle. Swooping down, she lands before him, settling her wings against her back, blocking thier path. Blazing green eyes bore into the stranger as she leans her head down to his level. Her voice, though a notch lower, would echo in the strangers head. She knew that they could hear her since she could sense the magic within them.

~I know you are of the magical kind and I know what you did. Now remove your hood and show yourself. If you refuse, you will not make it to the gates of GoldenMyst alive.~

[Lord Vaylen Stormbringer]

~~~Someone was approaching...that much was obvious, the people of Goldenmyst, having no real enemy for many years, had long since forgotten how to mask their signatures....not that it would have mattered to him really, It was just nice to remind himself of how innocent this place was. She had landed in front of him, wings outstretched, and he sighed. "Fec allanon Gelina,I didn't kill them. They will be perfectly fine and hopefully have a lesson burned into their mind. Uuma ma' ten' rashwe, ta tuluva a' lle Arwenamin. Now if you'll just excuse me..." But she wouldn't move. Show myself she demands...show myself, as if the signs were not obvious to her already. Had he been gone so long she did not even recognize him? Or was it the fact that he was not striding forth with a blood coated blade through a wake of corpses...yes...he could see the confusion then. "Show myself? Dear Gelina, I'm afraid I may startle you, at least sit down" He chuckled....erecting himself once more to his full height, he straighting his body, his broad shoulders now becoming evident, and with a flicker of movement, his cloak was cast off. He stood there before her then, black dragon wings stretching to their full cast, silver hair falling over pointed elven ears, his left hand resting on the pommel of his runeblade. "Now will you stop acting as if you could actually stop me and just go get me a drink?" A wicked wolfish grin spread across his lips as he prepared to catch her when she fainted.

[Gelina Grey]

The moment he spoke, she knew who it was. That large red dragon head jerked back quickly, large green eyes blinking. When he did finally reveal himself, she brought around her right wing, smacking him to the ground, sword and all. Before he could get up, she'd shifted back to human form, Vengeance drawn and pointed into the back of his neck, her boot on his back.

"Vaylen. How very nice to see thee again." Quaint sarcastic voice. Then...

"You fucking bastard!" And she kicks him. Hard. Right in the ribs. "You have alot of nerve coming back here after what you pulled!" She took a step back, but her sword was still close to his body, ready to cut him if he made one wrong move.

"As for me stopping you? That wouldn't be a problem anymore. I am not the woman you knew before you left. Oh, and that drink?" Kicks him again. "Get it yourself."

[Katrina Loures]

*she sat up quickly, waking in a cold sweat.. a foul presence was in the air... she quickly got out of her bed, wiping off her brow quickly, and getting ready. Tying her hair back a bit, fixing her clothes and belt to her waist, and various other preparations. She closed her eyes, mumbling to herself, trying to determine the location of the presence......
Her eyes opened, smirking, and calling upon the ancient relic, grew the Angelic Wings, and took flight in the direction of Lina and Vaylen as fast as she could, a kunai in both her hands, ready for anything*

[Lord Vaylen Stormbringer]

The moment he spoke, she knew who it was. That large red dragon head jerked back quickly, large green eyes blinking. When he did finally reveal himself, she brought around her right wing, smacking him to the ground, sword and all. Before he could get up, she'd shifted back to human form, Vengeance drawn and pointed into the back of his neck, her boot on his back.

He laughed as he fell face first into the ground....hilarious laughter erupting from him even as she stepped on his back. Tears streamed from his eyes as he slowly quieted to a few chuckles. It WAS nice to be back. "Nice to see you too Gelina." He feinted pain as she kicked him...allowing his armor to reactivly flex with teh blow so as not to hurt her foot. She was a dainty lady afterall, and he probably DID deserve the kick. He turned to sit cross legged as she moved the blade from his neck and wiped the few tears away with another slight chuckle. "What I did? Which thing, my dear, are you speaking of, that I did to incite your wrath this time?" Just to show her he had learned a few new triks himself, he started teleporting at a rather naueseating speed around her, leaving the air charged with electricity in lieu of his teleportation...he did it so much, in fact, that when he finnaly stopped, a few feet in front of her, her hair was standing straight up, and her clothes clung to her as if they were wet. He looked her up and down with a gaze of approval. "Well at least you've been working out while I've been gone." He chuckled and made a small gesture, creating a positive tract for the static and giving her one hell of a good shock. He became serious then at her next kick, deftly rolling into it and drawing his blade up untill the spiked pommel of it rested right below her dainty chin, the point resting on her now outstretched thigh. "Perhaps not, but I've NEVER been one to trifle with." With a simple nudge of his wing, he set her to her back and took a step back, sheathing his blade, then offering a hand to her. "Why dont you just show me where the bar is and Ill get it myself?


"As for me stopping you? That wouldn't be a problem anymore. I am not the woman you knew before you left. Oh, and that drink?" Kicks him again. "Get it yourself."

[Gelina Grey]

What an ass!

"What did you do? You don't even remember?! You bastard!" Then she was shocked by the electricity that he had generated.

"OW!" Then she found herself on her back looking up at him. Raking a hand through her hair to smooth it back down, she narrows those emeralds at him.

"You son of a bitch..." Reaching up to take his hand, then is pulled up to her feet. "You know where the bar is. And if I want to trifle with you, I most certainly will. Don't think this is over."

She quickly let's go of his hand, straightens her tunic, blows a strand of hair from her face, then turns to walk down the road towards GoldenMyst, glancing back at him over her shoulder.

"Oh and by the way... I'm married."

[Lord Vaylen Strombringer]

~~~ He chuckled, letting his hand linger on hers for a moment as she turned to slip away. " Of course I know where the bar is...I was on the way to it untill you nearly landed on me. Perhaps then...you could show me the way to teh garden?" He chuckled again, wondering if that would turn her back towards him. Another barb maybe... "Oh and as far as you being married...when hsa that ever stopped me? Besides, you assume I even want you...your a haggard old witch who doesnt even like me. Im sure there are plenty of pretty young princesses who are more....sociable....than you are my dear." With that he took a few leaping steps...one off of her back, the other off her shoulder and snapped out hsi wings, becoming airborne as he skimmed the treetops towards the castle.

[Gelina Grey]

SEETHING!!!

The gardens. HUMPH! She breaks into a run then shifts again, taking flight right behind him. Being much larger and powerful in this form, she soars above him then dives down towards him. Nailing him with that large dragon head, she sends him into a freefall just outside the castle gates. Of course if she was a bit off in her calculations and he landed on a gate pike, that would suit her just fine.

However, she knew that she was right in her figures and sure enough, he lands just outside the gate. Herself landing just inside the gate, shifting back to human form again, several guards behind her and beside her blocking the way into the castle.

"What is it you want here, Vaylen. When you come here, it's only to cause trouble. I won't have it. The last time you were here, you hurt me and others. Your antics won't be tolerated anymore in this kingdom. And as for being a ..what was it you called me? ...an old haggard witch? ...I'm not. As you can see."

Because she knew damn well that she wasn't anything close to it. And she knew that he knew she was as stunning as ever and she gives him that sly grin that got his attention in the first place all those years ago.

"You know. If you had been nice about things, I might have let you pass easily. But no, you had to go and be all big and bad. Why you couldn't just lower your hood and say 'It's me, Lina.' is beyond me. Why you have to be so god damn dramatic just mystifies me."

Standing there shaking her head, though a hurt look in her beautiful green eyes as she crosses her arms over her chest, more hugging herself for security than anything else.

[Sanguine Claws]

The topaz twin orbs watched, observed Lina as she approached the castle since there was a slight disturbance. The guards all seemed to wake, as Second in Command she now took more responsibility to get the guards in patrol order. Standing in human form, arms crossed along her chest as the fingers tapped along the upper parts of the arm and simply watched. Lina was a bit out of control with her rage lately, as if she was pure energy with no direction to flow.

Imbalance. Unstable.

Or maybe just confused with everything that happened. She was back from her purification ritual, scar slightly faded but still there, hair a more shimmery shade as if polished gold and eyes had a fresh glint to the pupils. Hands slid down off her limbs to step from the shadows adorn in a one shoulder pale blue toga like top, and matching skirt that slanted from left side to the right.

"Yer Majesty, is this person annoyin' ye? Must ye call all the guards te block him from entry?" Considering her job was to protect the boarders as well as the Grand Duchess herself.

Stepping into view at the 5'8" height, three thin red scars lined from the left brow down to the corner of her mouth as she watched the man. The wolven beauty sniffed the air a bit, but it was hard to get much of a reading from the vibes that vibrated too thickly around the air.

"Who are ye and why is it ye are aggravatin' me Grand Duchess?" She had a strange new sword along her right hip that seemed not just double bladed but almost like two blades in one but the dark blade Dark Sentinel stayed along her back. With this she could sense a persons true feelings, their vibes if good or bad, or just energy. If she focused it it could even see into their hearts or as well use a person's own aura against them. Don't like it, blame Syn he created it and gave it to her as one of the Samurai of the Mysts. Notice also she did not pull a weapon out at him but simply the celtic woman stood there waiting for an answer.